Thursday, December 31, 2015

I haven't felt the urge to write anything for the blog in quite some time, but with the end of the year approaching, I've been seeing a lot of end-of-the-year lists out there. My favorite thing about the blog was always doing my end-of-the-year book and movie lists. To my eternal shame, I didn't do them last year. So with renewed vigor, here are my top ten movies of 2015.

I watched 112 movies in 2015. The first movie I watched in 2015 was Lone Survivor and the last movie I watched was The Big Short. If you're heading out to the theaters or looking for something to rent, you can't go wrong with any of these films. These movies aren't necessarily movies released in 2015, just movies I saw for the first time in 2015.

10) The Good Lie: A moving portrayal of Sudanese refugees adjusting to life in the US.

9) McFarland, USA: True story of a cross country team overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to become a California powerhouse.

8) The Drop: James Gandolfini's last film is a worthy send-off. Tom Hardy channels Mike Tyson in this under appreciated crime film.

7) Big Hero 6: Let's put it this way. I watched this with a very tough group of 8th graders, and they were bawling, all of them.

6) Jurassic World: I didn't think you could match the scene in Jurassic Park when ol' T-rex makes his appearance, but when the new dinosaur shows up in this one, not only did I feel that same excitement, I could see it on my daughter's face as well.

5) Wild: While I would not consider myself a big fan, this is the second Reese Witherspoon movie on the list. This one was definitely overlooked by Oscar last year. Great adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir.

4) Whiplash: A little movie that asks a big question: How far should we go to achieve excellence?

3) Inside Out: I'm a huge Pixar fan, and this is Pixar at its very best. And like any good Pixar movie, this one made me verklempt more than once.

2) The Big Short: Another film adaptation of a great nonfiction book. This movie tackles the complexity of the housing bubble that nearly collapsed the world economy with a wicked sense of humor. But it's smart enough to leave you pissed off.

1) Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Not many things in life surpass expectations, but this movie managed to surpass my unrealistic child-of-the-80s expectations. Starting a new chapter of this story with my girls makes it even more special.
Let me know what you think of my choices, and of course, I'd love to hear what you enjoyed watching this year in the comments, maybe some movies to watch in 2016. Your top movie, top 3, 5, 10, whatever works for you.